Balancing Family And Work

The biggest challenge many of us face, is how to balance the demands of our family and friends with our career. Whilst we want happy and fulfilling lives outside work, we have to make personal sacrifices in order to achieve our career aspirations.

“It is all about priorities. You need to know what is important to you at which point of time in life”. Most of us know, or would at least faintly remember hearing this quote somewhere, sometime in the past. If balancing your career and family is being a tight rope walk, then what you just read above is the best possible solution to it.

Achievement and enjoyment go hand-in-hand. Sometimes, balancing becomes more of ‘compromises’ and ‘sacrifices’. The times when only the husband earned and the woman cooked have totally changed. Today, the wife earns too; but she also cooks, washes and manages the house.

Though the society is seeing an enormous improvement in the status of women in India, the traditional concept of a woman as a housewife stays adhered to the minds of the people, including the semi-modern Indian women. For a majority of them, having a baby is very important.

It is then that a woman’s career sidesteps. When she tries to be a mom and a professional at the same time, sacrifices, compromises and the so called ‘balancing’ – all come in. Balancing career and family is not easy, but not impossible either.

To bring about a balance between the two without having to choose one over the other, you need to simply make an effort towards it. Following a few simple rules will help you see some symmetry between home and work.

Share Responsibilities

Learn and also teach your family to share responsibilities. You can ask your husband to help you with the dishes or your kids to assist you in packing their lunches. While we try to share our responsibilities with the others, it is also important for us to learn to let go of guilt and the urge to control or criticize them. After all, they are only trying to help.

Leave Work At Work

Learn to develop a mental boundary between home and work. Obsessing over things that happened at home while we are at work is not going to help in anyway. Doing so would not only reduce our work times, but will also lead to unwanted stress and reduce our productivity at work and home too. When you at home, just stay there mentally and switch off work from your mind.

Get Organized

Try to get yourself more organized at work. You can use pocket planners, set up reminders and plan things in advance to allow yourself more personal time. This way, you will be able to function more efficiently and meet deadlines quicker, leaving you additional time with your family.

Plan Activities

Psychiatrists say that planning activities like an outdoor sport or a picnic together with the family strengthens bonding. We should try putting the available time to the best use. Families can plan and get involved in outings, hobby activities or anything that every member in the family can get involved with.

Many families make it a point to go out on vacations or long weekends at least once every year. When you are holidaying, it is also important that you stay disconnected from work as much as possible.

Caring – Show It, Get It

A few caring words and simple gestures are sure to let your family know that you love them and care for them. Sharing jokes with your children or talking to your husband about the day for a few minutes are tiny gifts that you could give them. In return, you will feel refreshed too.

Lost amidst the chaos of juggling work and home, women often forget or just do not bother to take care of themselves. Make sure you set aside some quality time for yourself every week, and pay attention to your health. Doctors say that exercising, walking or jogging for just 15 to 30 minutes a day would help people stay healthy.

There is no single solution to balancing work and home. Patience and perseverance, combined with the ability to prioritize will guide you through to success. Just move ahead with one question in mind – “What are the decisions and compromises I need make today in order to achieve my goals tomorrow?”

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